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Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: The Importance of Near Miss Reporting for all Construction Companies

If you or someone you know was injured in an accident, contact our Aventura Construction Injury Lawyers today.

In South Florida, thousands of construction accidents occur every year, and many of them result in lawsuits filed by North Miami lawyers against construction companies. Typically, when a construction company commits a negligent or wrongful act in the workplace, it results in injury to an employee or the general public. According to certain rules and regulations, these accidents must be reported.

Pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) guidelines, when an accident or injury occurs on a construction site, the company is required to report this incident to OSHA. However, many times a construction company in Florida may commit wrongful acts that result in no injury. Therefore, many construction companies believe that they may simply brush the near accident under the rug and act as though nothing happened. Yet, this is not true, for companies must be cognizant of “near miss reporting.”

A North Miami construction injury lawyer that litigates personal injury cases against large construction companies must be aware of the “near miss reporting” requirement. Essentially, a “near miss accident” means exactly what its name indicates — an accident on a construction site that was avoided. OSHA defines “near miss” as an incident where no property damage occurs or injury is sustained, but, where given a slight shift in time and/or position, damage and/or injury easily could have occurred.

In fact, OSHA has an entire section of its website dedicated to Safety and Health Management, and part of that section details the “near miss accident” and “near miss reporting.” As a North Miami Beach construction injury lawyer, I have come to recognize that the supervisor of construction zones is often the person to direct partial, and sometimes full, blame for accidents occurring in the construction area. So naturally, OSHA mandates that the supervisor or person in charge of the construction site has the responsibility of investigating all incidents or “near miss accidents.”

By conducting a proper investigation and inspection of all “near miss accidents,” the possibility of another incident or “near miss accident” from occurring is slim to none. Ultimately, OSHA stresses that “near miss reporting” is just as important as traditional accident reporting. A suggestion for all South Florida personal injury lawyers that sue construction companies — when performing investigation and discovery, always tackle “near miss reporting.”